Love On The Arcadia
by GeminiWolf89
Summary: Umbrella didn’t attack the Arcadia, and Claire’s memory slowly returns to her. Shitty summary and title, but the story is better I promise!


Alice, Claire and Chris stood watching the explosion of Wesker's plane with near identical smiles on their faces. Looking over at the redhead, Alice bumped her shoulder, catching her attention for a moment.

"Didn't want you to miss that."

A soft chuckle escaped the redhead in question, before all 3 of them turned their eyes to the over two-thousand survivors below them on the main deck of the Arcadia.

"What do we do now? These people thought Arcadia was the answer to all their problems…turns out it was part of them."

Nodding, Alice turned and walked onto the bridge of the Umbrella ship, and picked up the radio laying on the counter. Chris stayed out on the upper deck, watching for any signs of trouble while his sister followed the taller woman onto the bridge.

"Whatta ya say we give people what they were expecting? We can destroy any tracking devices on board, and use this ship to pick up survivors."

"What happens when we run out of room?? We can't live on the ship forever."

"You're right. We'll have to find somewhere to settle, somewhere we're sure the infection hasn't reached."

"Do you think somewhere like that exists??"

"Well…last time I checked, the undead couldn't swim. Maybe an island would be our safest bet."

Lifting the radio to her lips, Alice recorded a new message that would be broadcast over the airwaves, and hopefully, reach more people that had survived the infection and needed rescue. Finally able to breathe a bit in the aftermath of the takeover of Arcadia, Claire turned to her friend and let a small smile curl her lips.

"I never did thank you, by the way…"

"For what?"

"Not killing me when I attacked you in Alaska."

"I would never hurt you, Claire. You might not remember much right now, but I'm hoping it comes back sooner rather than later."

Nodding, the redhead suppressed a shiver as Alice slipped passed her, a hand resting on the shorter woman's lower back out of instinct. A faint memory prickled at the back of her mind, but refused to return fully, causing a frown to darken Claire's face.

"Alice…"

"Hm?"

"What were we…before Alaska? To each other, I mean…"

The tall brunette froze in place, hand resting on the door leading out onto the upper deck of Arcadia, her mind working in overdrive. Closing her eyes for a moment and gathering herself, she turned and looked over her shoulder with a small smile, and a ghost of something in her eyes, something Claire couldn't quite identify.

"It'll come back, Claire. Until then…just focus on what we have to do. When it does come back…I'll be here."

Grunting at the older woman's dismissal of her question, the ex-convoy leader leaned against the counter behind her and crossed her arms, watching as Alice vanished out the door. Blinking as the woman breezed passed him, Chris turned his head towards the window and lifted an eyebrow, to which his sister simply shrugged. Within the next several hours, the trio had the ship free of any tracking bugs and had the survivors settled as best they could be with their limited space. Later that night, after convincing K-Mart that she wasn't going to vanish into thin air if the blonde teen let go of her, Alice excused herself to the upper deck where she leaned against the railing, watching the darkening skies. The flick of a lighter and gentle glow of a burning cigarette illuminated her face as she took a long draw before closing her eyes and releasing the smoke.

"You gonna share those?"

"You gonna pout if I don't?"

Smirking a bit when the redhead came up beside her, Alice tapped another cigarette out of the pack and offered it to her. Putting it into her mouth, Claire didn't have to wait long for the other woman to ignite her zippo and light it for her before flicking the lighter closed and depositing it back into her coat pocket.

"I don't know where you found these, but I'm insanely happy you did. You know the world really has gone to shit when the smokes are gone."

"Got that right."

The two women shared a light laugh before Alice went quiet again, the only sound being the burning of the paper and tobacco when one of them would take a draw from their cigarette. The two had never really needed to speak to be comfortable around one another, even in Nevada when the brunette had shown up, seemingly out of nowhere, and saved the convoy from infected birds.

"I remember the birds…and the fire. You saved all of us from a bunch of crows, and simultaneously scared the fuck out of us with your power."

"So it's slowly coming back, good."

"But…there's still so much I don't remember. I remember K-Mart, and how she's like a little sister to me. I know you and I were friends, that we were close…but how close? I…know there's a memory there, just out of reach and it's driving me fucking insane!"

"Don't rush it, Claire. Who knows how long you had that thing on your chest, pumping whatever that drug was into your system. It's going to take time."

"What if time isn't something we have?"

"Don't talk like that…"

"Alice…"

"We're going to find an island big enough for everyone, we're going to settle, and god damn it we're going to survive. I haven't come this far just to let everyone I care about die. We're going to make it, I promise."

While she'd been talking, the older woman had turned her body towards the redhead, and suddenly found herself enveloped in a tight hug, their cigarettes falling forgotten to the deck, where they slowly burned out of existence. Smiling when Claire rested her head on her shoulder, Alice allowed herself the luxury of resting her nose against the top of the woman's head, closing her eyes. The pair of them stood like that for a while, with the redhead finding herself not wanting to let go, and hoping like hell that her memory fully returned soon. Only when the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard on the deck did Claire release the other woman from her hug. Both of them turned, and saw Chris heading towards them with a map in hand.

"Ladies. Certainly hope I wasn't interrupting."

"What's up, Chris?"

"I figure we should start looking for a place to settle…we don't need to be in open water any longer than we have to, especially on an Umbrella ship."

Nodding, the three of them sat on the deck, enjoying the cooler night air, as they looked over the map, looking for anything. Alice's eyes stopped on a rather large island, decently far from the coast of California, but close enough to make supply runs an easy task.

"What about here? It looks big, and is close enough to the main land that we can still make supply runs and pick up survivors if the need arises."

"I was thinking the same thing. We could send out a small boat, two or three people, and check it out once we get close. Make sure it's safe and free of the undead."

Nodding, the brunette sent a smile to the older of the Redfield siblings, glad to have someone with military training with them. Chris returned the small smile before circling the island with a red marker and folding the map back up.

"I don't know about you ladies, but I'm going to try and get some sleep."

"Yeah, sleep sounds good."

"I'll stay up here and monitor the radio, I don't need nearly as much sleep as you guys."

"I can stay with you, if you want some company."

Grinning at the redhead's offer, Alice put a hand to her chin and feigned thought for a few moments before a smack on the arm caused her to laugh.

"I'll be okay. Get some rest, you deserve it. Thanks for the offer, though."

Nodding, the pair headed towards the steps up to the bridge together, and before Alice to vanish up them, Claire grabbed her arm and stopped her. Blinking, the older woman lifted an eyebrow before she received a rather quick kiss on the cheek from the other woman.

"Goodnight, Alice. Try not to exhaust yourself, okay? We need you."

"I'll do my best. Goodnight."

With that, Alice bolted up the steps like she was being chased by an invisible zombie, and once she was on the bridge with the door shut, she closed her eyes and let out a breath. Claire's sudden kiss, albeit to her cheek, had caught her off guard and sent her mind into overdrive. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, the brunette grabbed a chair and sat down in front of the console and radio, kicking her feet up and listening for any transmissions that may come through. Despite telling the others that she didn't need sleep, Alice found herself dozing off after a few hours of monitoring, and was jolted awake by the bridge door opening. Putting a hand on her gun out of instinct, she turned sharp blue eyes towards the door, only to sigh when Claire entered.

"I thought you were asleep."

"I was…woke up and couldn't fall back asleep though. Do you want me to leave?"

"No, you can stay if you want."

Pulling up a second chair, the younger woman sat down next to her and rested one ankle on her opposite knee before looking over at her friend.

"I…remembered something…"

"Oh? What did you remember?"

"The night in the Motel…between us…"

Flashback

The convoy had stopped at a small Motel just before they reached Vegas to re-supply, luckily the rooms were in decent enough shape to where people could sleep on an actual bed if they so desired. Alice and Claire had entered the building to do a quick sweep for the undead, and shared a small smile when there were none to be found. It was a few hours before everyone was situated, and were enjoying a small respite from sleeping in the vehicles. The leader had stepped outside, and didn't see Alice leaning against the building next to the door.

"Hey, Claire."

Turning her head towards the newest convoy member, the redhead's eyes locked on the red and white pack being offered to her, with a single filtered stick poking out the top. Giving a smile, the woman took the offered cigarette and lighter and took a deep drag off of it before handing the lighter back. Once her own Cigarette was lit, Alice tossed the lighter back into her bag and leaned back against outside of the building again, sticking the half-full pack back into her pocket.

"Thanks."

"No problem. You looked like you could use one right about now."

The gentle orange glow as the redhead inhaled, allowed Alice a brief look at the other woman's face.

"You're really gonna like what else I found."

"Is that so?"

Reaching into her coat, Alice produced a nearly full bottle of pure Vodka, which she shook at the other woman with a smirk. Claire's eyebrow shot up and she took the offered bottle and stared before turning her eyes back to the brunette, who was still smirking through an exhale of smoke.

"Where did you…"

"Same place I found the smokes, hidden behind a bunch of shit in a closet."

"Why you sharing with me?"

"It's no fun to drink alone, and besides, I think if anyone needs to relax a bit around here, it's you, don't you think?"

Grinning a bit, Claire shook her head and motioned Alice to follow her. The brunette stomped out the butt of her cigarette before following the convoy leader inside and to the room she'd claimed as her own.

"If Carlos sees this he'll go ape shit."

"Oh yeah?"

"The man would be an alcoholic if it was still easy to find."

Snorting, the two women sat down on the bed in the room, and cracked open the bottle of decently strong alcohol. Claire took a decent sized drink from the bottle and winced at the burn in her throat before handing it over to Alice. The woman took a large drink as well, not reacting quite as strongly as the other woman to the burning sensation. Within an hour, the bottle was about half gone, as was Claire's sobriety. Alice wore a smug smirk, simply leaning back against the wall as the redhead spouted off random observations. The next thing out of her mouth, however, made the woman pause with the bottle halfway to her lips.

"You're really good looking, by the way."

"And you're insanely drunk."

"Am not. Tipsy, for sure, but not drunk."

"Uh huh…"

Taking another small drink from the vodka bottle, Alice sat it aside on the floor once it was capped, and suddenly found a rather attractively flushed Claire Redfield in her lap. Blinking, she let her hands rest on the other woman's waist as she swayed a bit from the sudden movement. Letting her eyes trail over the convoy leader, Alice had to admit that the woman was absolutely stunning, even when she was half drunk.

"Claire…"

"Hm?"

"You're…ah…sitting on me…"

"I'm aware of that."

"And here I thought you didn't like me."

The brunette felt her breathing speed increase involuntarily when she felt Claire's hands drag up her arms, and her fingers lock together behind her neck. Swallowing back a lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, she let her arms wind around the younger woman's waist.

"What are you doing, Redfield?"

"What I've wanted to do for the past few days…now shut up."

Before Alice could register what was happening, she felt a pair of surprisingly soft lips press against her own as she was tugged forward. At first, she was stiff and unsure of what to do, but before long her instincts took over, and it wasn't long before Claire was on her back with the other woman hovering over her. Taking a deep breath, Alice forced herself to get off the bed and detach herself from the redhead.

"What's wrong? Don't you want me?"

A raspy laugh was her response, along with the brunette sitting down and leaning over her again with a tight smile.

"Oh believe me…I do. I've thought you were beautiful ever since I first laid eyes on you, but if this is going to happen…I want you to be sober. Completely sober."

"Alice…"

"Shh…I'm not going anywhere. Just sleep, sober up, and prepare for tomorrow. It's going to be one hell of a fight."

End Flashback

Alice flushed deep red as she, too, remembered what had happened at the run down Motel on the way to Vegas. Claire reached over and took the other woman's hand in hers, green eyes meeting blue as a gentle smile curled the redhead's face.

"You could have easily taken advantage of me…but you didn't. Why?"

"I…because I care about you, Claire. I didn't want some quick drunken fuck in a nasty motel room."

When the ex-convoy leader didn't respond, the brunette stood up and paced around the room, running a hand through her hair and wincing when her fingers caught on a tangle. Claire stepped in her way, and just like at the motel, slid her hands up to lock her fingers behind the taller woman's neck.

"Alice…"

"I just didn't want you to feel like I had violated you or something, because I'm really not that kind of—"

"ALICE!"

"What!"

"Just shut up and kiss me already."

The gentle words caused a smile to slowly curl the older woman's lips, right before she slipped her arms around Claire's waist and did as she asked. The two met in a gentle, almost timid kiss, since Alice still didn't know exactly how much the redhead remembered of their relationship before Alaska. When they parted, Claire didn't let Alice pull back too far, and the brunette gladly rested her forehead agains't the younger woman's.

"I knew we were more than friends…I just knew it…"

"You remember something else?"

A little grin stole it's way across the redhead's lips, and she teasingly bumped her nose against Alice's.

"Mm hm. I wonder if K-Mart ever figured out how the hummer got tears in the back of the headrest of her seat."

A raspy laugh escaped from Alice and she shook her head a bit, her eyes glittering in amusement at that memory.

"She was so concerned that an undead had gotten in and attacked us."

The pair shared an easy laugh, before they locked eyes again and Claire moved to sit on the counter behind her, pulling Alice forward again. The taller woman easily, and happily, stepped between her legs and slipped her arms around her waist again. Knowing that the younger woman remembered their first night together, Alice didn't hesitate to catch her in another kiss, this one more firm and confident than the last. Letting out a soft moan, Claire wrapped her arms fully around the other woman's neck, pulling her closer as their kiss deepened. When the need for air arose, the pair parted just enough to breathe, eyes locking again, lips curling into smiles.

"I'm so glad I remembered…"

"Me too."

"Alice I…"

Before the woman could finish speaking, the door opened and Chris entered the bridge, eyebrow lifting at seeing the two in such close proximity.

"Morning, ladies."

"Chris."

"Here to give you some relief, Alice. Even you need to sleep eventually, right? And from what I know, my sister here didn't get much rest either."

Having moved her hands to rest on Alice's shoulders when the door had opened, Claire bit back a groan at the loss of the other woman's touch when she moved back. Slipping down from her seat on the counter, the younger of the Redfield siblings barely managed to not glare a hole through her brother's skull.

"Yeah, rest sounds nice, actually, right Claire?"

"Huh? Oh…yeah I guess so."

The pair said goodbye to Chris, who took up position in Alice's vacated chair, and headed down the steps to the upper deck. Before they could part ways, however, Claire grabbed Alice's wrist and stopped her before leaning up and whispering in her ear.

"I want you…"

The brunette felt a shudder tear through her at the whispered words from the fiery redhead in front of her, and she swallowed a lump in her throat. When the two locked eyes, Alice's nostrils flared at the pure desire she saw staring back at her. Briefly wondering if hers held the same look, she wordlessly took the woman's hand and led her to what used to be the captains quarters. Almost as soon as the door was shut, the taller woman had Claire backed against the wall, and caught in a deep, passionate kiss. A low moan slipped from the redhead as her arms flew up and wrapped around Alice's neck, pulling her as close as humanly possible. Claire felt strong hands resting on her hips and instinctively shifted them, trying to get closer to the body in front of her.

Alice pulled back when the need for air became unavoidable, and rested her forehead against Claire's, breathing heavily, with a grin on her lips. Taking that time to run her hands down Alice's arms, the younger woman pushed the long coat from her shoulders, and it easily fell to the floor when the other woman straightened her arms. From there, her hands drifted down and pulled the black tank top out of the confines of her pants, slowly lifting to see if her lover would object. Alice simply lifted her arms and allowed Claire to remove the tank top, the article of clothing fluttering to the floor, forgotten, a few moments later. As soon as bare skin was revealed, the redhead rested her hands on Alice's shoulders and pulled her in for another kiss, only to have to move them as she found her vest and tank top removed as well. A deep blush slowly colored her cheeks, causing the older woman to chuckle and cup her cheek.

"You okay?"

"Uh..yeah. Just…from what I remember…we've never been…uh…naked together, before…have we?"

"No, we haven't. Not really a luxury when your first time is in the back of a car, after all."

A light laugh escaped from Claire and she nodded in agreement, only to have said laugh turn into a low moan when Alice let her hands wander over the exposed skin. The feeling of warm lips against her neck jolted her back into action herself, and her fingers tangled in the brunette's hair, gently pulling her closer. Grinning, the woman easily picked Claire up off the ground, and carried her towards the large bed placed in the center of the room. The redhead laughed as she found herself deposited onto the bed with a light bounce, and the laugh earned her a grin from her older lover. It wasn't long before both women found themselves divested of any clothing, and Alice was pulling low moans and sighs out of Claire as she explored every inch of exposed skin.

"Fuck you're beautiful, Claire…"

"So are you."

Reaching up, Claire put a hand behind Alice's neck and pulled her down into a kiss, her other hand coming to rest on her lower back. Taking the opportunity, the younger woman rolled them, pinning Alice on her back and grinning against her lips. A low chuckle escaped the brunette, but it quickly morphed into a groan as Claire pressed her lips to the woman's neck, biting gently. The redhead let her hands wander over Alice's skin, drawing soft sighs from her as her eyes fluttered shut. Happy that the older woman hadn't rolled and taken control again, Claire trailed her lips from her neck down, stopping to give the top of one breast a solid bite, leaving a mark she knew would probably be gone by morning. Fighting her instinct to take control back, Alice cracked her eyes open and peered down at her lover through her eyelashes, watching every move she made. Sensing eyes on her, Claire peered back up at her, smiling against her skin.

"What?"

"Nothing at all."

The near breathless rasp of her voice caused the redhead to grin even wider, one hand slipping down to grip her hip gently. One of Alice's hands moved to rest on the back of Claire's head as she slowly moved her lips down the woman's body. The hand on her hip slipped down to gently brush against her, causing the woman above her to let out a low groan.

"I wanted to do this so bad in the back of that stupid hummer…"

"Huh?"

Blinking through the haze of pleasure rolling through her body, Alice lifted her head and peered down at Claire again, forcing herself to stay focused on her face, and not the probing fingers of her hand that was pressed between her legs. Instead of answering the brunette, Claire let two fingers slip into her, and her lips immediately closed around the small bundle of nerves that had Alice seeing stars. Letting her head fall back onto the pillow, the older woman let out a low, yet decently loud moan, eyes scrunching shut. Reveling in the sounds she was drawing from her lover, Claire hummed lightly against the woman's skin, and Alice could have sworn she blacked out for a second. One of her hands tangled itself into long red hair, the fingers of the other digging into the younger woman's shoulder. In return, Claire dug her nails into Alice's hip, almost hard enough to draw blood, but definitely hard enough to leave marks.

"Fuck…Claire, I…"

Grinning, the redhead doubled her efforts, nearly growling against the other woman as she concentrated on getting her to her peak. The grip in her hair tightened, and the nails digging into her shoulder broke the skin, drawing blood to pool on the surface. Feeling the sting of broken skin, Claire pulled away for a brief moment.

"Easy there, superwoman…I can't heal like you do."

"Shit, sorry…"

"It's fine."

Claire lowered her head again, and within a few moments, she felt Alice's muscles tensing, and her breathing rate increased. Moving her hands to get a firm grip on the other woman's hips, she replaced her fingers with her tongue, and the second she did, Alice stiffened above her with a low, near animalistic groan, her climax hitting hard. The redhead slowly pulled away, releasing her hips and slipping up to lay next to her with a grin that rivaled the Cheshire Cat.

"Mm, much better than the back of a hummer, right?"

"As soon…as I can move, Redfield…you're gonna get it."

"Promise?"

Growling in the back of her throat, Alice surged forward and pinned Claire under her on the bed, catching her in a bruising kiss that was returned with just as much passion. The older woman wasted no time, and slipped a hand down between her lover's legs with a grin. Leaning forward, she whispered into Claire's ear, the other woman going blood red in the face. Laughing at her easily flustered lover, Alice gently ran a finger through the wetness between the other's legs, barely dipping into her opening as she did.

"Oh come on, Alice…don't tease me!"

"But it's so fun!!"

Grunting when she felt a hand tangle roughly in her hair and yank her head up, Alice was met by the passionate green eyes of her younger lover.

"You listen here, Abernathy. You, are going to fuck me, right now."

"Heh…yes ma'am."

With a grin, having always loved seeing the other slip into leader mode, the brunette immediately slipped her fingers into the other woman, earning her a hiss. Closing her eyes, Claire let her head fall back against the pillow, the hand tangled in Alice's hair loosening as the other woman slid down her body. Light kisses and bites were peppered along her chest and stomach, just before a warm tongue joined her fingers in their assault of Claire's senses. The ex-umbrella agent felt more powerful than she ever had, having the strong, silent Claire Redfield lying under her, giving off moans and sighs of pleasure. The thought caused a grin to curl Alice's lips, and she increased the speed of her fingers and tongue.

"Alice!"

Hearing the other woman call her name in a breathless whisper caused the brunette to let out a low moan against her skin. Catching movement from the corner of her eye, Alice saw the redhead's hand blindly groping, trying to find something to hold onto. Reaching up, she laced their fingers together and flicked her tongue over her lover's bundle of nerves, causing a high-pitched squeak to escape the ex-convoy leader. Making a mental note to tease the redhead about that sound later, she closed her lips and applied gentle suction. It wasn't long before a hand clenched in her hair, and Claire's body started to tense up.

"Alice…I can't…"

"Then don't."

Groaning loudly as she was unable to fight off her release any longer, the woman tensed and clamped down on Alice's fingers, the older woman not stopping their movement until Claire had rode out the entirety of her climax. Slipping from her body, Alice moved up and laid next to her, drawing the still-recovering woman into her arms and pressing a kiss to her forehead. Reaching down, Claire pulled the blanket up over them and curled into her lover's warm body, closing her eyes and sighing contentedly.

"I love you, Alice…"

"I love you too, Claire."

Tears pricked at bright blue eyes at the chance to finally say those words to the other woman, and before long, they'd dozed off in each other's arms, for once able to relax amid the end of the world.

AN: WOW!! Hey guys! I watched these movies again recently and decided to try my hand at writing a Claire/Alice fiction! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it! Reviews make me a happy wolf!


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